TimeShift icon
TimeShift icon

TimeShift

 69 likes

TimeShift for Linux is an application that provides functionality similar to the System Restore feature in Windows and Time Machine tool in Mac OS. TimeShift protects your system by taking incremental snapshots of file system at regular intervals.

TimeShift screenshot 1

License model

  • FreeOpen Source

Country of Origin

  • IE flagIreland
  • European Union flagEU

Platforms

  • Linux
4.8 / 5 Avg rating (12)
69likes
8comments
0news articles

Features

Suggest and vote on features

Properties

  1.  Lightweight

Features

  1.  Incremental Backup
  2.  Support for BTRFS
  3.  Schedule Backup
  4.  Ad-free
  5.  No registration required
  6.  No Tracking
  7.  Works Offline
  8.  Differential Backup

TimeShift News & Activities

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Recent activities

  • CommanderPho reviewed TimeShift  
    28 days ago

    Extremely easy to use and keep function backups. The backups themselves are incremental, meaning they're very light. Helpful for maintaining a working linux system and when all goes wrong it can be used to restore the entire boot drive.

  • CommanderPho, rgnos, braky and thesuncitywitch liked TimeShift
    28 days ago
  • Fadikkop liked TimeShift
    about 2 months ago
  • OpenSourceSoftware added TimeShift as alternative to Restic Robot
    2 months ago
  • App icon
    Ramon302 added TimeShift as alternative to Crow Backup
    2 months ago
  • DeVeras liked TimeShift
    3 months ago
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TimeShift information

  • Developed by

    IE flagLinux Mint
  • Licensing

    Open Source and Free product.
  • Rating

    Average rating of 4.8 (12 ratings)
  • Alternatives

    30 alternatives listed
  • Supported Languages

    • English

AlternativeTo Category

Backup & Sync

GitHub repository

  •  3,193 Stars
  •  112 Forks
  •  293 Open Issues
  •   Updated Jun 10, 2025 
View on GitHub

Our users have written 8 comments and reviews about TimeShift, and it has gotten 69 likes

TimeShift was added to AlternativeTo by Alessandro on Oct 7, 2013 and this page was last updated Jul 9, 2024.

Comments and Reviews

   
 Post comment/review
Top Positive Comment
chugeiro
Oct 21, 2014
3

What a great program. Now you can tinker with your Linux installation to your heart's content without any serious consequences. No meddling with virtual OS'es for the same reason needed. If that's not cool I don't know what is.

CommanderPho
May 22, 2025
0

Extremely easy to use and keep function backups. The backups themselves are incremental, meaning they're very light. Helpful for maintaining a working linux system and when all goes wrong it can be used to restore the entire boot drive.

RemovedUser
Jul 26, 2023
0

I really like this tool to add layers of protection to my Linux Mint, which makes me more prepared in cases of error of my OS, helping me to recover it and avoiding my loss of files!

Mr. Anon
Jun 4, 2023
0

An excellent backup tool, and probably one of the simplest for Linux I've ever used.

I really wish you could save to a network location though, or select a different location than "/timeshift."

michaelcoxeu
Jan 24, 2023
0

Easy system backups for noobs and other humans

Ada Byron
Jan 18, 2022
0

TimeShift is a lifesaver. I discovered a new bug that killed major part of my connectivity. Nothing worked. Used Timeshift and was running again within 10-15 minutes. It does not backup your home files by default, not meant to replace backups. This could be the thing that saves you an entire day of work trying to fix something vs. being fixed in few minutes.

TerrifiedTyphlosion
Feb 23, 2020
0

I have this application installed on my Linux Mint computer. I've used it at least 15 times so far, and it works very well. If I am not mistaken, it uses RSYNC as the backend, although BTRFS is also possible.

I set up Timeshift to automatically back up most of my files on the root partition, excluding a few like /dev, /proc, and others that I can't recall right now. Timeshift will take a snapshot of certain folders so that you can go back to it when needed. Since most programs I install end up in /bin, /etc, /opt, or /usr, by backing this up, I am able to revert these folders to a previous state. That way, if some upgrade of a package goes horribly wrong, fixing it is easy.

You can also set a schedule for Timeshift to back up your folders at certain intervals. For me, I back up every week and keep a list of the last 4 backups before automatically deleting the oldest one.

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7 of 8 comments

What is TimeShift?

TimeShift for Linux is an application that provides functionality similar to the System Restore feature in Windows and the Time Machine tool in Mac OS. TimeShift protects your system by taking incremental snapshots of the file system at regular intervals. These snapshots can be restored at a later date to undo all changes to the system.

Snapshots are taken using rsync and hard-links. Common files are shared between snapshots which saves disk space. Each snapshot is a full system backup that can be browsed with a file manager.

TimeShift is similar to applications like rsnapshot, BackInTime and TimeVault but with different goals. It is designed to protect only system files and settings. User files such as documents, pictures and music are excluded. This ensures that your files remains unchanged when you restore your system to an earlier date. If you need a tool to backup your documents and files please take a look at the excellent BackInTime application which is more configurable and provides options for saving user files.